A Magical Future
by Piyo
Summary: Sixteen year old Piper Halliwell feels as if she is a nobody with nothing going for her in her future. Then, after drinking a potion mixed tea from Grams, Piper wakes up in her in future self's body and gets a glimpse of what her future might be-complete
1. A Nobody's Normal Life

Author's Note: Hey, it's me Piyo, back with another story. I have no idea where this idea came from, but decided to go with it and play around. Please, read and review, but no flames, they waste everybody's time. Now, lets see if this one will make anyone cry whereas all oh my stories seem to do that.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed, the WB does. I only own my story idea.  
  
Chapter One: A Nobody's Normal Life  
  
Sixteen-year-old Piper Halliwell left her chemistry class with a sour expression on her face. If there was one thing that Piper did not understand it was chemistry, and she was only glad that she was leaving class. Walking to her locker, she placed her book inside and grabbed her lunch and wandered outside where she sat beneath the shade of a tree. It was there that she could have a bit of peace and quiet.  
  
Pulling out a sandwich her Grams made, Piper was free to think about anything she wanted, but her mind kept drifting back to chemistry. That day she had been paired up with a partner, and an annoying one at that, and was forced to mix the ingredients on a list and make a solution. At first, Piper thought it would be simple. Here she was, the best cook in her house, known for being able to mix and match anything that was written down in a recipe, but give her a formula and she freezes up.  
  
"Oh, I hate it!" she said.  
  
"Hate what?"  
  
Piper turned and watched as her younger sister Phoebe sat down next to her. Phoebe began pulling out her lunch and started to eat as Piper stared at her in disbelief. "Nothing, I just hate my life, is all. Pheebs, why aren't you hanging out with your gang?"  
  
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "It's not a gang, Piper. Anyway, Rick is being such a jerk right now and I don't want to waste my time with them. Besides, I hardly ever get to see you Piper."  
  
"Pheebs, we live together. You see me all the time."  
  
"Not at school I don't."  
  
"Well, that would be because you do not wish to associate with a sister who has no social life whatsoever," Piper said, casting her gaze to the ground. She looked up when she felt Phoebe's hand on her shoulder. "Oh Phoebe, you know it is the truth! I have no life at all and hardly any friends."  
  
Phoebe shook her head. "You have plenty of friends, Piper. I see you talking to people all the time."  
  
"People who come to me begging me to do their homework and stuff like that. I mean, if anyone in the family has a life it has to be you and Prue." Pipe sighed as she said her sister's name. "I really miss having her at school with us. Even Andy. At least then I had someone to talk to. Not that I can't talk to you, Pheebs."  
  
"I understand. I just can't believe you see yourself as a nobody, Piper. It is so unlike you...well, maybe not, but still."  
  
Piper stifled a laugh. "Thanks, Pheebs."  
  
"Anytime Piper. Anytime."  
  
Lunch went by so much faster with Phoebe there, but Piper was still glad when it was over. It meant that there were only two more periods of school before she would be allowed to leave. If only her last period did not have Him in it, the Him that Piper had been crushing over during her three years of high school. She had accidentally let it slip to Prue that there was a certain someone at school that she did like, and ever since she had been pressured into talking to Him and trying to be near Him at all times, but Piper did not listen to her sister. Piper knew that she had no chance, and this thought made her sink even lower.  
  
Piper couldn't help that fact that she felt as if she were a nobody. Sure, she was sweet and dependable and could hardly say no to a favor someone asked her, but it seemed as if that was all she was known for. All she was good for. She couldn't stop and see a future where she was going to be successful, happy and hopefully have a family. A life that would be normal in a way, but at least have it where she was something more than she was now, but it wasn't as if Piper did not enjoy the normalcy of her life. There was nothing wrong with having nothing big in one's life, but Piper wanted a bit of excitement, excitement she knew she would never get.  
  
She sighed, a habit she had formed when she accepted her fate, and walked into her last period. "I guess that's me. Piper Halliwell, the nobody with a boring normal life." 


	2. The Dream Potion

Chapter Two: The Dream Potion  
  
At three o'clock Piper and Phoebe entered the Manor and Piper immediately made her way up to her room without saying a word to anyone. Grams, who had been standing in the foyer, watched her middle granddaughter and wondered what the matter was. Following Phoebe into the kitchen, Grams knew that her youngest granddaughter couldn't keep a secret to save her life and knew that she would be able to find out what the matter was.  
  
"Phoebe dear," Grams began, "what's the matter with Piper?"  
  
Phoebe took a soda out of the fridge and sat at the kitchen table. "The same old stuff. About how she has absolutely no life and how she will never amount to anything in the future and that she will be all alone forever."  
  
Grams' eyes grew wide as she took a seat at the table. "She doesn't really believe all that, does she?"  
  
"Believe what?" asked nineteen-year-old Prue as she walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Phoebe is insisting that Piper believes that she will never amount to anything in the future. That she will have not future," Grams answered.  
  
Prue rolled her eyes and looked at Phoebe. "She isn't thinking about that again is she? I thought she had gotten over that already?"  
  
Grams stood, outraged. "Girls, you both can't be serious? How on earth can Piper feel this way? She is sweet, kind, how can she say such things about herself?"  
  
"Because it is kind of true, Grams," Prue said. "I mean, Piper is somewhat of a geek."  
  
"She hardly has any friends, she can't get over her shyness when it comes to guys and all she is really good at is cooking," Phoebe added.  
  
"Not that it is bad not to have any friends and to be shy," Prue said, defending herself. "It's just that, this is how Piper is and she accepts that. Or, at least I thought she did."  
  
Turning her gaze to the ceiling, Grams stared up at it, as if she could see up it and see Piper. There had to be something that she could do to help her granddaughter out. Getting Prue and Phoebe to leave the kitchen, Grams went to the cupboards and began to pull out an assortment of strange ingredients to something she did not want her granddaughters seeing.  
  
The girls were not supposed to know that they were witches, and therefore any magic that Grams wanted to perform had to be done in secret while they were either at school or in bed asleep. After cutting, dicing, slicing and doing everything to the appropriate items, Grams tossed them into a pot and mixed them together until concoction began to release a fog like vapor.  
  
It was just as Piper was coming downstairs that Grams had successfully hidden away her magic and was setting two cups of tea on the table. Glancing up at the clock, Grams noted how the sun had finally gone down, but it was still somewhat early in the evening.  
  
"Piper, sweetheart," Grams said, pulling out a table chair. "Why don't you have a seat?"  
  
Eyeing her grandmother closely, Piper did as told. "I know they told you, Grams, you don't have to pretend that you don't already know."  
  
"I'm not going to bother you about it, Piper. I know that you must be a little upset, that is why I made you some tea."  
  
Grams placed one cup in front of Piper. Piper caught the strong scent and she eagerly took the cup in her hands and began to drink. After taking a sip, she looked at her grandmother suspiciously.  
  
"What's in this?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, just some new herbs I picked up at the market," Grams answered, knowing that even if Piper was the chef in the house, that she would not know the roots and whatnot in the potion she had slipped into the tea. "Why? Don't you like it?"  
  
"Yeah, actually, I do. But it's making me tired," Piper said with a yawn.  
  
"Well, why don't you finish your tea and then go to bed," Grams suggested. "I'll make sure the girls don't bother you while you sleep."  
  
Nodding, Piper drank down the rest of her tea, gave a hug to Grams then turned to leave the kitchen. Holding out her hand, Grams called out, stopping Piper.  
  
"Make sure that before you go to bed that you make a wish," she said.  
  
"A wish?" asked Piper.  
  
Grams smiled. "Well, you never know if it might come true."  
  
Piper gave a half awakened nod, and then ascended the stairs to her room. She slipped out of her clothes and managed to put on her pajamas before she all but collapsed into bed. With another yawn, she drew her covers up to her shoulders and was about to fall asleep when she remembered what Grams had said.  
  
Make a wish.  
  
Lying on her back, Piper closed her eyes. "A wish. I wish that I were a somebody that had an exciting but normal life. And that I would have someone to love, someone who loved me. That's what I wish."  
  
It was then that Piper took a deep breath and fell asleep, not knowing that as her Grams has said, her dreams just might come true. 


	3. Waking Up in the Future

Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I really have no idea where this story is going. I am currently working on another Charmed fic, but I am sadly having a bit of writer's block. "A Magical Future" kind of popped into my head and I decided to work on that whereas I am still having ideas. Honestly, I don't think this story is great as my others ("Letters" and "Forgive Me", which I recommend you read, but I warn you to have a tissue handy, they seem to make many cry). If this story isn't up to par with my others, than please forgive me, but every writer has their down days where they create okay and/or sucky stories (but every writer is their own worst critic, so you can tell me if I am wrong). Anyway, I seem to have rambled enough in this little author's note, so I am going to go ahead and give you the next four chapters of the story. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter Three: Waking Up in the Future  
  
Piper turned over in bed, waking from a peaceful sleep that she did not want to end. She knew that waking up meant that there would be school to attend and school meant just another day in her boring life. It was as she pulled back her covers to get up that she realized that someone else was in her bed.  
  
"Oh my god!" she shouted, jumping from her bed. She tripped herself as she pulled her legs from the sheets and fell hard onto the floor, waking the other person. With frightened eyes, Piper realized it was a man, and crawled away as he got up from the bed.  
  
"Piper, what's the matter?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Seeing her on the floor and afraid, he moved closer to her, genuinely worried.  
  
"How...how do you know my name and what are you doing in my room?" she demanded, getting to her feet.  
  
"Your name?" the man laughed. "Piper, what's going on?"  
  
He began to move closer, causing Piper to back herself into the bedroom door. It was as she was cornered that she noticed how her room looked different. Her posters were no longer on her walls and the furniture was all wrong, even were the shape and size of the room. Closing her eyes and taking a break, Piper sank to her knees.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked, her head falling into her hands.  
  
"You're home," the man answered. "In your room."  
  
"This is not my room and this is not my house." Quickly, she was at her feet again and opened the door and ran down the hall, calling back behind her as she heard the man follow her. "Stay away from me!"  
  
Piper ran down the hall and stairs and stopped in the foyer of the house. She stared at everything and saw that she really was in her house. Everything was in its place, nothing looked different. Walking over to the mirror that hung on the wall by the door, Piper's eyes grew wide when she saw her reflection.  
  
"I'm...I'm older?" she asked herself. She gazed down at her hands and at her body and realized that she had grown a little over the night and that her body had matured a bit more. Then she saw her hand, her left hand and saw the ring on her finger. "Oh my god..."  
  
"Piper, what has gotten into you?"  
  
She turned and standing beside her was the man from the bedroom. Being as confused and lost as she was, Piper knew that she had nothing to loose and moved closer to him.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked, her voice shaking.  
  
"I thought I already told you," he answered. "You're home."  
  
"And I am really Piper Halliwell?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
At this, the man's expression turned somewhat grim. "You don't know?"  
  
"Would I be asking if I did?" she snapped, causing the man to go aback. "Listen," Piper began, her tone softening, "something really strange has happened. The last thing I remember was going to bed last night and last night I was sixteen years old."  
  
The man sighed. "I see."  
  
"So, who are you?"  
  
"I'm Leo, your husband."  
  
Piper turned around and faced the door. She could feel her cheeks blushing a bright pink. Her husband? Heart pounding in her chest, she looked back at him and smiled, a bit sheepishly.  
  
"My husband? You mean we are married?"  
  
"For almost ten years now," Leo told her.  
  
Walking into the living room, Piper took a seat on the couch and rested her head on her hand. "I have to be dreaming."  
  
"Actually, I think this is more than that," Leo said, sitting next to her on the couch.  
  
"Oh, and if this is not a dream then where am I?" she asked, sarcastically.  
  
"The future." 


	4. The Witching Truth

Chapter Four: The Witching Truth  
  
Piper stared up at Leo. "The future? You have got to be kidding me."  
  
"Tell me everything about what happened last night," Leo said.  
  
Rolling her eyes, Piper sighed and tried her best to remember. "I went to school, failed horribly on my chemistry assignment, ate lunch with Phoebe and reminisced about how boring my life is. Then I went home and Grams made me tea, and then I went to bed."  
  
"That's it?"  
  
Laughing, Piper added, "And I made a wish. Grams told me to, so I did."  
  
Leo nodded and thought to himself. He wasn't' exactly sure what had happened, and he knew that time travel wasn't something that was easily done, therefore he was confused as to how a sixteen year old Piper had been placed in her future self. Remembering the tea and the wish, Leo asked Piper if there was anything unusual about the drink.  
  
"Come to think about it, there was. Tasted funny, but Grams said she had just put some news herbs in it."  
  
"A potion, most likely," Leo muttered, his voice fading.  
  
"A potion? Leo, what are you talking about?"  
  
"What did you wish for?" Leo asked.  
  
"I wished that..." Piper trailed off as she looked at the ground. Even if this man was supposed to be her husband, she did not feel comfortable exposing her wishes to him.  
  
"Piper, you can tell me."  
  
"I just wished that...I had a better life, you know? That I had this exciting life, but nothing too fancy and that I had love."  
  
Leo's eyes softened as she smiled. "You didn't feel that's what you had?"  
  
"No," Piper said, standing. Walking around the living room she found a cabinet with pictures and whatnot inside it. Looking them over she saw what appeared to be her wedding day pictures, in them being herself and Leo. On the fireplace mantle, she saw two group photos, one that had herself, Phoebe and Prue. The other had both her and Phoebe in it, but there was someone else. Around the room there were other family photographs that she recognized, her mother, Grams, and other that she did not, especially the ones of two boys.  
  
"Leo, what were you talking about when you mentioned a potion?" Piper asked.  
  
"It's how I think you got here. I think Grams made a potion and slipped it into your tea and its trigger was your making a wish."  
  
"And the answer to my wish was sending me to the future?" Piper laughed. "Now I think you are the one who is dreaming, Leo. Grams making a potion? You make her seem like she is a witch or something."  
  
Taking a deep breath, Leo braced himself for Piper's reaction to his next statement. "She is a witch, Piper. Or, at least she was."  
  
Confused, Piper sat next to Leo. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Knowing that Piper's younger self was in the future for a reason, Leo knew better than to keep the truth from her. "Your Grams was a witch. As was your mother, Patty and pretty much every female relative on your mother's side."  
  
Piper shook her head, not believing Leo. "You are lying. I mean, if they were witches, that would mean that Prue, Phoebe and I would be..."  
  
"Witches too? You are, and powerful ones at that. The Charmed Ones, the three most powerful witches."  
  
"That's not true," Piper shouted. "Witches aren't real. Magic is not real; it's an illusion. This is a dream and I am going to wake up soon and I am going to have to go to school and-"  
  
Reaching out, Leo grabbed Piper's hand and pinched her skin, causing her to scream out.  
  
"Leo that hurt!"  
  
"I thought you couldn't get hurt in your dreams?"  
  
Piper stood and moved away from Leo. "Where are my sisters? Where are Phoebe and Prue?"  
  
Standing, Leo took a step forward. "Phoebe is in the kitchen, but Piper, about Prue..."  
  
Before Leo could finish, Piper went by him and entered the kitchen saw a woman standing by the sink, pouring water into a coffee pot.  
  
"Phoebe?" Piper called out, questioningly. Watching the woman turn around, Piper found herself facing an older version of Phoebe.  
  
"Piper, you're up," she said, smiling. "I just finished making that vanquishing potion for that annilla that attacked the other day, and thought I'd make some coffee since you weren't up. Piper, are you okay, you look a little funny?" Setting the coffee pot on the counter, Phoebe walked closer to Piper when she saw a look of horror on her sister's face.  
  
"Leo was right," Piper whispered. "We are witches, aren't we?"  
  
"Of course we are, honey," Phoebe answered. Her eyes grew wide as she watched her sister's eyes roll in her head and her body fall limply to the ground. Rushing to her side, Phoebe held Piper's head in her lap and called for Leo. Keeping her eyes on Piper, Phoebe brushed back her sister's hair and whispered to her.  
  
Instantly, Leo was in the kitchen and at Piper's side. "What happened?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Phoebe told him as he tried to heal her. "She came in and called for me, but it sounded like she was afraid, almost. The she said something about you being right, that we are witches and then she just fainted."  
  
Leo sat up. "Then there is nothing to heal." Taking Piper into his arms, Leo carried her into the living room and laid her down on the couch. "I'll leave her here and we'll jut have to wait until she wakes up."  
  
"Leo, what's wrong with Piper?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Nothing, actually. It's just that this may look like our Piper, but remember that one time you, Piper and Prue went to the future?"  
  
"How could I forget burning at the stake, Leo?" Phoebe said, sarcastically. "But yes, I remember. We were in our future selves' bodies."  
  
"Let's just say that a sixteen year old Piper is here for a visit." 


	5. Explanations

Chapter Five: Explanations  
  
Piper could hear voices as she slowly came to. They were muffled, but she could make out what they were saying. Stretching, she listened as she tried not to make any noise as she got up. The first voice she heard was Leo. It seemed as if he were trying to explain the situation to someone.  
  
"She doesn't believe that she is in the future," he said.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't either Leo, considering that I went to bed the previous night as a teenager," a new voice said. Piper did not recognize it as being Phoebe or Leo, but the voice was definitely female. Perhaps it was Prue?  
  
"We just have to remember that all of this is going to come as a shock to Piper. Remember Paige, when we were teenagers, we had no idea we were witches. Mom and Grams made sure that there was never any magic in the house, that we had a normal life," Phoebe said.  
  
"That isn't going to be the only thing that will come as a shock," the female voice said. Paige, Phoebe had called her. "Does she know about Prue yet? That's going to be pretty hard to tell her. And what about me? How exactly are we supposed to break it to Piper that I am her sister?"  
  
"There is a lot that she doesn't know," Leo said. "And she was obviously sent here for a reason so she should be told the truth. The truth about your mother, Grams and Prue."  
  
"Oh my god, we completely forgot about Wyatt and Chris," Phoebe gasped.  
  
"Don't worry about them," Leo told her. "Leave that to me to tell Piper."  
  
"I just wonder how she is going to handle her powers," Paige said, a bit of worry in her voice. "It was pretty hard to grasp the concept that I was able to do things that I never thought were real."  
  
"There is just so much to tell her," Phoebe said. "Where do we start?"  
  
"How about by telling me where Prue is?" Piper asked, sitting up and looking over the couch to see the three people talking.  
  
"Piper, honey, you feeling any better?" Phoebe asked her, sitting opposite her in the living room, along with the other woman. Leo took a seat next to Piper.  
  
"A little, but I could hear you all talking and I want to know where Prue is and who are you?" Piper looked at the new woman and waited for an answer.  
  
"I am Paige Matthews," she said. "And I am your sister."  
  
"But..."  
  
"Piper, listen to me," Phoebe began. "After mom and dad divorced...mom fell in love with a man named Sam. Paige is our half sister."  
  
"Is she a witch too?"  
  
"Half witch," answered Paige. "My dad was a whitelighter." Seeing the confusion on Piper's face, Paige continued. "A whitelighter is like a guardian angel for witches. My dad was mom's whitelighter, just like Leo is ours."  
  
Piper nodded. She was beginning to understand what they were saying and was even opening herself up to believing that she was in fact a witch, but she wanted to know where Prue was. Phoebe must have seen this on her sister's face, and unknown to Piper it was because of her powers as an empath, because she took Piper's hands and looked deep in her eyes.  
  
"Piper, this is going to be really hard for you to hear, but Prue...You see, we are the Charmed Ones, very powerful witches and there are many demons and warlocks after us...All the bad guys live in the Underworld and the ruler of the Underworld is the Source...He wanted us dead, Piper and sent someone to kill us...Prue...she didn't...when the demon attacked..."  
  
"She's dead?" Piper asked, finishing for Phoebe.  
  
"I know it is hard to believe, but yes."  
  
Tears clouded Piper's vision as she grasped the thought of her elder sister not being there. The pain was overwhelming, and Piper did her best to holdback her tears, but they came and she cried. Feeling a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she turned and saw Leo smiling at her, as if to tell her that it was all right and that he was there to comfort her.  
  
'She's gone...but I get another sister," Piper said, looking up at Paige. "I hope we get along," she said with a laugh as she wiped away her tears.  
  
Paige smiled. "We have our differences, but we do."  
  
Taking a deep breath, Piper looked at Leo. She had not forgotten what they had said about Prue, but to Piper most of what was happening she thought was nothing more than a dream, so she wanted to know as much as possible before she woke up. "Now, tell me about these powers that I heard about."  
  
"Well, witches have powers and you and your sisters are no exception. If you can believe it, you have the ability to freeze objects and blow them up."  
  
Piper's eyes grew wide. "When I asked for some excitement in my life, I don't think I meant that, but I am definitely looking forward to learning how to use those powers."  
  
"You won't be looking forward to it when the time comes, trust me," Phoebe said with a laugh, remembering how Piper was the one who was dead set against becoming a witch.  
  
"How do I use them?" Piper asked.  
  
"Everyone's trigger is different, but you normally use your powers when you are afraid and you throw your hands out," Leo answered.  
  
"Like this," Paige said, as she took a vase glass figurine for a table and threw it at Piper.  
  
Instinctively, Piper put up her hands, afraid that the figuring would hit her, but to her amazement, the object simply sat in the air, frozen. Standing up, Piper circled the glass figurine, her eyes wide and a smile spreading across her face.  
  
"Phoebe, what can you do?" Piper enjoyed what she thought was just another illusion thanks to her dream-world and wanted to know what her sisters could do as well.  
  
"I can levitate and I have premonitions of the past and future," she said.  
  
"And I can orb objects and from place to place," Paige said, not wanting to be forgotten. "That and I learned how to heal."  
  
Piper turned to Leo, but he answered before she could ask. "I have many, like all whitelighters. I can orb, heal, levitate and others."  
  
"What power did Prue have?"  
  
"Telekinesis," Phoebe said. "And astral projection."  
  
Paige leaned and looked into the conservatory, then turned back to Leo. "Speaking of astral projection, I think I just saw someone in the other room. Want me to go up and have a talk with him?"  
  
Leo nodded. Paige then said a quick good-bye to Piper and disappeared from the room is a swirl of blue and white lights. Piper jumped back at the sight, but turned her attention to Leo, wondering what Paige had meant.  
  
"Was she talking about those two boys, the ones whose pictures I saw here in the living room?" Piper asked.  
  
"Yes. Wyatt and Chris," Leo said.  
  
"Them being?"  
  
"Our sons." 


	6. Mommy

Author's Note: I realized that Piper seems to be taking all of this really well, don't you think? Just so that we are all on the same page here, I want everyone to know that Piper still thinks that she is dreaming. She is playing along because she thinks she is in the middle of some crazy, fun dream and doesn't want to wake up in a reality that is boring and dull. At some point she will realize that it is not a dream, but I'm not really sure when. Okay, now that that has been said, on with chapter six.  
  
Chapter Six: Mommy  
  
"I'm a mom?" Piper asked herself, walking over to a table where she had seen the pictures of the two boys. Picking up a frame, she saw the two of them together and instantly her heart melted. One boy had blond hair and easily resembled Leo, but it was the other boy that caught Piper's attention. His green eyes stared back at her and she saw herself in his reflection.  
  
"My children," she whispered.  
  
"Our children," Leo said, standing behind her. "Beautiful, aren't they?"  
  
Piper could only nod as tears filled her eyes. When she had gone to bed the night before, she had been filled with a hopelessness that had been plaguing her over the years. A hopelessness that she was doomed to be alone in the future, with no family, but it was right there in front of her, proof that she would marry and have two gorgeous sons.  
  
"Happy?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Very," Piper said, turning to her sister. "Do I have any nieces or nephews?"  
  
"You have a baby niece who is sleeping upstairs. You were the only one who has had boys," Phoebe answered. "My husband is away on business in Hong Kong, and won't return for another three weeks, so I am afraid that you will not be able to meet him."  
  
Leo faced Piper. "This spell probably will not last very long, a day at the longest. There is a reason to your being here, I just have to figure it out."  
  
Piper placed a hand on Leo's shoulder. "I think I know what it is. I am here because of what I wished, right? Well, I wished that I didn't have a boring life and that I had love. I have been feeling so lonely and I'm guessing that my being here means that I am supposed to spend in a day in my future self's shoes to prove that what I have been feeling is wrong."  
  
Leo looked at Piper, a puzzled look on his face. "You mean, you actually believe that you are in the future now?"  
  
"Yes and no. I suppose that if I don't try and make myself believe it that I won't. If that makes any sense at all," Piper said. "I mean, what is the harm in believing in something that I will never have?"  
  
"Now, there is the Piper that I know and love," Phoebe said, jumping up and hugging her sister, thinking of all the times that Piper dreamed of having a normal life, but seemed doom to never get one. "So, uh...I'm hungry. What are you making for breakfast, Piper?"  
  
"What makes you think that I am the one making breakfast?"  
  
Phoebe draped an arm over Piper's shoulder. "Because you make breakfast every morning, I mean, you are the trained chef in all."  
  
"A chef?" Piper looked over at Leo to make sure that she had heard right.  
  
"You were a chef, then became the manager at a restaurant," he told her as they walked into the kitchen.  
  
"And now you are the owner of a very popular nightclub by the name of P3," Phoebe added.  
  
"A nightclub?"  
  
Before anyone could answer Piper, there was a swirl of blue and white orbs and a young boy with brown hair appeared and dashed behind Piper, holding her tight. Piper, a bit confused at first, tried to remind herself that in this future, she was a mother and that the son in front of her had no knowledge of her not knowing who he was. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to act as if nothing was different about her, she just hoped that if she acted natural that the boy would not know the difference.  
  
Opening her mouth to speak, Piper realized that she did not know the name of the boy behind her, but she did not have to worry long, for Leo spoke for her.  
  
"Chris, what are you doing?" he asked.  
  
The boy popped his head out from behind his mother. "Wyatt was being mean. He was orbing my things all over the room."  
  
"Wasn't your Aunt Paige just up there talking to you boys about using your powers?" Phoebe asked. "You know you aren't supposed to use them against each other like that."  
  
Chris held onto his mother tighter, and looked up at her. "She came in and yelled at me for coming downstairs, but it was an accident. I didn't mean to come downstairs."  
  
Kneeling down, Piper took Chris into her arms and picked him up. For someone as small as he was, she couldn't believe how heavy he was. Stroking his hair, she whispered in his ear. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean to. So, why don't you tell me what you want me to make you for breakfast and then go play until it's ready?"  
  
Chris' eyes grew wise as he smiled. "Can you make French toast?"  
  
"Of course," Piper answered. "Now you go play and I'll call you when it's ready."  
  
Giving his mother a kiss on the cheek, Chris ran from the room and up the stairs. Leo watched his son go then looked at Piper. It came so natural to her, even if she had technically never been a mother yet.  
  
"Already getting accustomed to your life here?" he asked as Piper made her way around the kitchen. He hoped that nothing had moved too far from its original place so that she would not be able to find it.  
  
Opening the fridge, Piper turned to Leo. "I just figured that the boys don't know that I am not really their mom. I mean, I am, but I'm not the mom that they know and I can't let them know that. Besides, I treated him the way any child would want to be treated."  
  
"Chris is just coming into his new power," Leo said. "He astral projects all over the house, but only because he can't control it yet. It is really hard, but you are there for him and are real patient."  
  
"That's what he must need. I'm glad that I can be of some help to him; I mean he is my son after all. Isn't it the least I can do?"  
  
"Plus, she is making us food, Leo," Phoebe added. "So, mommy, can you hurry up with that French toast, because I am starving!"  
  
Piper laughed. "You know, some things never change." 


	7. A Demonic Breakfast

Disclaimer: Um, I always forget these things, so if I never mentioned it before, here it is now. I do not own Charmed. I only own the plot and...that is about it. All right, now that that is out of the way, on with chapter seven.  
  
Chapter Seven: A Demonic Breakfast  
  
The kitchen table had been set with six settings, and all the food was ready. Piper had really outdone herself, but she was really testing out her cooking knowledge. She made the French toast, a plateful of eggs, bacon and sausage, and made sure that there was both milk and juice for those who wanted it. Phoebe even added her pot of coffee.  
  
Leaving the kitchen, Piper stood at the bottom of the stairs and called up to her two sons and Paige, who apparently was changing in her room. Instead of seeing them run down the stairs as she and her sisters did each morning, Piper heard the familiar chimes that she knew to be orbing. Returning to the kitchen, she found Paige and the boys ready and waiting at the table.  
  
Piper took a good look at Wyatt as she sat opposite him at the table. She had come to know a little about what Chris might be like, thanks to his orbing into the kitchen earlier, but Piper had had no previous introduction to her older son. At first glance, all she could think about was how much he looked like Leo, but then again, Chris looked just like she did. Wyatt must have sensed his mother's eyes on him, because he turned his gaze to her.  
  
"Is something the matter," he asked, putting down his fork. "Do I have something on my face?"  
  
"Can't a mother look at her son anymore?" Piper said, hoping that it was something that she normally said.  
  
Wyatt only shrugged it off, and then turned to Leo. "What are we going to do today? You promised you'd take me out and we'd play ball in the park. Chris can come too if he wants."  
  
"I wanna come!" Chris shouted.  
  
"All right, just calm down," Leo told him. "Everyone can come if they want."  
  
"I'd love to, but I have work to get myself to," Paige said, finishing up her breakfast and putting her things by the sink. Standing next to the table, she held out her hand. "Robe." Instantly, her school robe appeared in her hand.  
  
Piper stared at her new sister. "Where do you work?"  
  
"Magic School," Paige answered.  
  
"You mean there is a school that teaches all of this stuff?" Piper asked.  
  
Paige nodded. "We found out about it years ago. I'm one of the teachers there."  
  
"Why didn't Grams send us there?" Piper turned to Phoebe, looking for an answer.  
  
Phoebe lowered her head. "Our powers were bound when we were younger, Piper. We weren't supposed to know that we were witches."  
  
"Anyway," Paige said, as she leaned over to give Wyatt and Chris hugs goodbye, "I better be leaving before class starts. Does anyone know where I left my bag, though? The one where I have my lessons?"  
  
"I think I saw it in the foyer," Leo said, motioning behind him.  
  
Nodding, Paige made her way into the foyer, and everyone else went back to eating breakfast. Until they heard her scream, that is. Phoebe was at her feet in an instant, as was Leo. The boys looked back from one than the other, then made their way to Piper, who was still sitting at the table. She didn't understand what was going on, and only watched when her sister and husband ran into the other room. Standing slowly, she turned to the boys.  
  
"Stay here, you hear me," she said.  
  
They nodded, their eyes wide with fear and watched their mother go.  
  
Piper did not know what to expect when she went to the foyer. She had thought that she was dreaming and that in her dream she was married and was a mother, but breakfast told her that maybe she wasn't, that she might actually be in the future. But, that being the truth, it meant that she was still getting used to the fact that she was married and a mother. The whole, being a witch thing? It had been dismissed. Sure, she had used one so-called power, but that could have been anything...right?  
  
But, that was not what was important at the time. What was was seeing what was wrong with Paige that would make her scream. Standing behind Leo, Piper looked up and there, near the ceiling, was a woman, looming over Paige. No, it wasn't a woman, Piper thought, it was a monster.  
  
"What the hell is that?" Piper asked, slowly backing away.  
  
Leo stood protectively in front of Piper. "Stay back, you don't know how to use your powers."  
  
The monster flapped its eagle-like wings and struck out a talon-like hand towards Phoebe as it hissed. Throwing herself in the air, Phoebe levitated and kicked it in the face. Stumbling backward, the creature moved forward again.  
  
"Annilla!" Paige shouted, her hand pointing to it. With one quick movement, she flung her hand to the side, causing the annilla to move also.  
  
Thinking it was over, Piper turned back toward the kitchen and saw another annilla materialize, scaring Wyatt and Chris. They shouted for their parents as the creature moved closer and closer, its talons outstretched and ready to take them. Nothing knowing what else to do, Piper ran to the kitchen and placed herself in front of her children.  
  
"Get away!" she shouted.  
  
"Blow it up, mom!" Wyatt told her.  
  
Piper stared at the floor, anger in her eyes, fear in her heart. "I can't...I don't know how..."  
  
Chris suddenly appeared behind the annilla, casing Piper to scream and Leo to run to his family. He saw his son behind Piper and behind the creature, and knew that Chris was making himself a decoy. The annilla didn't know the difference and went after an astral projection of Chris, thinking he was a real child. Angrily, Piper took a step forward and pulled on the creature, forcing it back. Afraid, Chris's image disappeared and he spontaneously woke behind his mother.  
  
Hissing, the annilla lashed out at Piper, who threw up her hands as if to protect herself. By doing so, she caused a small explosion, breaking a few things that hung on the wall. Frightened, she moved back, her hands still up and still causing explosions. As afraid as Piper was, the annilla dematerialized and vanished from the kitchen.  
  
Falling to her knees, Piper stared at her hands, wondering how she had done what she had. Thankful that everything was over, Wyatt and Chris went to hug their mother, to thank her fro protecting them. Instead, Piper pulled away from them and walked away from the kitchen and up the stairs, staring blankly at those around her.  
  
"What have you turned me into?" 


	8. Fear of Demons

Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long coming. I haven't had the time to write, but I do have another two chapters for those few people who are still reading this. I'll stop blabbering now and go. Enjoy.  
  
Chapter Eight: Fear of Demons  
  
Phoebe looked at Paige worriedly as Leo joined them outside the attic door. Using her empathic abilities, Phoebe sensed her older sister there and could sense the confusion and the anger and fear that was pulsing through her sister at that moment. Turning to Leo, they shook their heads, telling him that she wouldn't unlock the door.  
  
"We'd orb in, but we don't want to scare her," Paige said. "I think she has had enough of that already."  
  
Nodding, Leo moved to the door and knocked lightly. "Piper, honey? It's me, Leo. Why don't you open the door and let us in? We need to talk."  
  
"I don't want to talk!" she shouted through the door. "What did you turn me into? This isn't happening! This isn't real!"  
  
Phoebe rolled her eyes, then, hearing a muffled cry. She left the attic door and went into the nursery to hush her daughter, but found her nephews doing it for her instead. "Wyatt, Chris?"  
  
Chris turned to his aunt as Wyatt rocked the bassinette. "We heard her cry, and dad wanted us to stay together in case that demon attacked again. We thought we'd come in here and watch her, so that we can protect her if we need to."  
  
Phoebe ruffled Chris' hair. "You boys are angels."  
  
"Is mom all right?" Wyatt asked.  
  
Phoebe sighed, not exactly sure how she was supposed to tell them that it wasn't really their mother who was with them in the kitchen at breakfast. Thinking, she came up with a simple lie that would tide them over until everything was straightened out. "She was just scared about the demon. She was afraid that it was going to go after you and she doesn't want anything to happen to her boys. So, you stay here and keep an eye on my girl, will you?"  
  
Smiling, the boys nodded and Phoebe left the room. Making her way to the attic, she saw that the door was open and that Leo and Paige had just walked in. Running to catch up, Phoebe entered the attic and found a distraught Piper sitting in the center of the room, her hands around her legs and shaking.  
  
"Piper, you okay?" Paige asked.  
  
"Okay? I've turned into a witch and you want to know if I am okay?" she snapped.  
  
"Good point," Paige relied.  
  
Piper looked up and rolled her eyes. She scooted away as Leo made his way toward her and she watched him stop. "I told you to stay away from me."  
  
"Piper, you need to tell us what's wrong," he said.  
  
"What's wrong?" she shouted. "You turned me into a being that was hunted down and killed hundreds of years ago and you want to know what's wrong?"  
  
"But that was hundreds of years ago, Piper. Witches are different now a days," Phoebe said.  
  
"Oh, so I could walk down the street and easily use my powers in front of others?" Piper asked. Hearing no response, she knew she was right. "The point is, you turned me into something that I don't want to be. I want to go home, and I want to wake up and be in my bed in my room with my grams and my sisters down the hall, not in some house with a man who claims to be my husband and a woman who claims to be my sister and where I have children. I didn't ask for this. I'm not ready for this!"  
  
Phoebe knelt down beside Piper and places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Neither did I, Piper. When we first found out about who we really were and what we could do...none of us wanted to accept it, but we had to. It's our destiny. It's a part of us. Sure, it's been hard over the years, but we have had each other and we have dealt with everything that had been thrown our way."  
  
Piper stared at her sister. "When did you turn into me?"  
  
"Ever since I became the middle sister. Now, will you help us defeat the demon?"  
  
Taking a deep breath, Piper looked away. "I'm not sure that I can. But, I can try."  
  
Smiling, Phoebe helped Piper up and went to the Book of Shadows. She flipped through the pages and motioned for Piper to come and read. The page showed a picture of the demon they were to fight, and Piper read each word. It was an annilla, a female demon with the wings and talons of a bird. Reading the last few lines, Piper turned to Leo, a worried look in her eyes.  
  
"It says that annillas prey on children," she said.  
  
"So, it wasn't after us," Paige added. "It was trying to get through us to get to the kids."  
  
Leo nodded at Piper, knowing what she was thinking. "We have to get Wyatt, Chris and the baby out of the house."  
  
Phoebe shook her head. "No good. The annillas know their target and will go after them no matter where we send them."  
  
"But if we keep them here, we can't watch them," Piper shouted. She turned away. Just moments ago she was angry that she had had a pair of children thrust on her, but now her motherly instincts were taking over and she would do anything to protect them. "We have to keep them safe. Who's going to watch them while we fight the demon?"  
  
"Victor," Paige said. 


	9. Believing

Chapter Nine: Believing  
  
Piper stared at the grandfather clock, watching the second hand tick. Paige had orbed over to Victor's, and he was presently in the nursery with his grandchildren. Phoebe was in the kitchen, making sure that there was enough potion for the sisters in case of attack. Leo had gone to what he called "Up There" to, as he said, "confer with the other Elders".  
  
"What the heck is an Elder?" Piper had asked Leo before he left.  
  
"They are...high beings that know things," he answered, trying to think of something.  
  
"They don't know everything and we normally don't get along with them," Paige added, coming down the stairs, the Book in her arms.  
  
Leo nodded and gave Piper a quick kiss on the cheek. "I better get up there and see what they say, if they have anything to say."  
  
With that, he was gone in a swirl of lights and Piper was left to her lonesome in the living room. She sat there for what seemed like hours, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. Looking around the room, Piper decided that she should practice her powers so that she would stand a chance in a fight with a demon.  
  
Making sure that no one was near by, she took a deep breath and decided that she wanted to start small and try to freeze something. Piper was still a bit iffy about her powers. Sure, she had thought that it was cool that she froze what Paige had thrown at her, after causing that explosion in the kitchen...  
  
"I could have hurt someone," Piper said to herself. "I could have hurt the boys."  
  
With this in mind, Piper knew that she had to get her powers under control, for her protection and the protection of everyone else. Relaxing, she focused on a book on a table in the living room. Picking it up, she threw it in the air and threw out her hands. Closing her eyes, she prayed that it froze, but became upset when she heard the book explode into pieces.  
  
Opening her eyes, she watched the pieces fall to the ground as a figure orbed into the room. It was Wyatt. He looked confused and worried, and rushed up to his mother to see what the matter was. For being as young as he was, he seemed to know that something was up and that his parents and aunts were not telling him.  
  
"Mom? I heard the noise and wanted to know what was wrong," he said. He saw the remains of the book on the floor. "Is there something wrong with your powers?"  
  
"I'm not sure," she confessed, sitting back on the couch.  
  
Wyatt sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Sometimes our powers aren't nice to us, as Aunt Phoebe says. Besides, something seemed to be bothering you at breakfast. Our powers are connected to our emotions. That could be the reason."  
  
Piper nodded. My emotions? They won't work because I don't have faith in them working.  
  
Wyatt stood and walked toward the stairs. "Don't worry mom. I know what it's like, not being able to control my powers. Chris does too and believe me, if anyone should be worrying, it should be us. We have more powers than you do."  
  
"You do?"  
  
Wyatt laughed. "Yeah. But mom?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I believe in you."  
  
With that, Wyatt was gone up the stairs and Piper was left alone once again. This time, though, she was filled with faith and believed in herself, as her son believed in her. Standing, she picked up another book from the table, threw it in the air and successfully froze it mid air. Smiling, Piper looked back at the stairs, then up at the ceiling, as if she could look through it and see Wyatt.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered. 


	10. P3

Chapter Ten: P3  
  
Paige slammed the telephone down in the receiver angrily as Piper entered the kitchen. Piper stared at her sister, confused at what could be wrong. Nothing seemed to matter to Piper at the moment, though. She was focused and had tested her powers over and over and knew that she was ready to fight. Besides, she knew that if she didn't fight now, she might be too afraid to fight later. Anyway, the demons needed to be destroyed, and she was just the witch to do it.  
  
"I think I am ready," Piper said.  
  
"Ready for what?"  
  
"To fight the demon. What else is there for me to be ready for?"  
  
"It's more like what your future self should be ready for when she returns and that will be a club that has no band to play in it," Paige half mumbled to herself. She turned to Piper. "That was the club on the phone and something is wrong with the band and we need to have a band tonight."  
  
Piper shook her head. "How can finding a band be more important than fighting the demons?"  
  
Paige sat Piper down at the table. "It's not, but the club is our major source of income and we need the money. Not that we are doing poorly or anything, but if one band won't play, then another won't and then we'll be whisked into some vicious cycle."  
  
"Paige, you sure you aren't over-reacting?"  
  
Paige sighed. "Okay, maybe just a little bit. But the thing is, someone needs to go down to the club and work things out with the band and make sure that everything is going to be ready for tonight. I would, but I have so many papers to grade for Magic School. Phoebe is busy with the potion and her column and Leo still isn't back yet from Elder-land."  
  
Piper nodded and took a deep breath. "I'll go."  
  
Paige looked at her sister, her eyes crossed. "Piper, I love you and everything, but you have no clue about your club. I mean, you can't just show up over there and expect everything to go over fine. You don't know who anyone is over there and you don't know how things are dealt with, I mean technically you are still sixteen and everything, but there is no way that I can let-"  
  
Piper held up her hand, stopping Paige. "I'll take one of the boys. They have to know who everyone is, and no one will know it isn't me. It'll be okay, I promise."  
  
"What if a demon attacks?" Paige asked. "Are you sure you can use your powers? I'm not sure it would be a good thing if you relied on one of the boys for protection. Their powers are just as shaky as yours are."  
  
"Paige, when I say it'll be okay, I mean that it will be okay. Trust me. Besides, I worked on my powers and I have them under control, for the most part. So don't worry, it'll be okay."  
  
Or, at least that is what Piper thought while she was still at the house. She was presently standing in the middle of her club, surrounded by frozen workers and band members. Nothing seemed to be going the way it should and that was partly due to the fact that Paige had been right, she didn't know how to run a club. Every word out of anyone's mouth was gibberish and in attempt to free herself from the stress, she froze the room. Wyatt, whom she had brought with her was sitting on one of the bar stools, drinking a soda while Piper tried to calm herself down. Taking a seat next to Wyatt, she grabbed his drink and finished it off. Eyes widening, she turned to her son who was staring at her in disbelief.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry honey," she said, ruffling his hair.  
  
"Um...what's the matter with you, mom?" Wyatt asked. "I know your powers seemed a bit wonky earlier, but you didn't even remember the bar tender's name when we walked in and had no idea where your office was."  
  
Piper stared at the floor, unsure of how to answer him. "Well...I just haven't been myself lately."  
  
"Is it a spell?"  
  
Making the perfect excuse, Piper nodded and answered him. "A spell. That has to be it, right?"  
  
Wyatt nodded. "Maybe you should tell dad and he can look in the Book and we can fix you before the demons come again."  
  
"But before we do that, I think we need to do something about getting a band," Piper said. Standing, she walked over to unfreeze those in the club, but stopped when she heard her son scream. Turning, she saw one of the annillas from that morning appear and it was hovering over Wyatt.  
  
"Mom!" Wyatt shouted, falling from the stool.  
  
Piper ran to her son's side, but was thrown back by the demon. She landed with a thud on the other end of the room, the fall shocking her and causing everything to unfreeze. The band and the club workers caught sight of the demon and ran up the stairs and out of the club, fearing for their lives. Oblivious to the other and lying helpless on the floor, Piper struggled to get to her feet as she heard Wyatt call out for her.  
  
But it was too late. By the time she was standing, she saw the annilla take her son into its arms, him screaming and kicking to free himself. Too afraid to do anything, Piper watched as tears formed in her eyes as the annilla disappeared, taking Wyatt with it. 


	11. Just a Child

Author's Note: Well, I finally got around to finishing up chap 11, so here it is. I think there will be at least three or four more chapters and then this story shall be over. But have no fear, I have another story in the works and it is one that I think is way better than this one. Once again, thank you to those who have reviewed means a lot to me. Anyway, enough rambling, I better get going and let you all read this.  
  
Chapter Eleven: Just a Child  
  
Leo arrived at P3 in a hurry. While speaking with the other Elders, he could sense that something was wrong and was suddenly overwhelmed by his oldest son's fear. Realizing that his son was not at the Manor as he was supposed to be, Leo orbed to the club and found Piper in her now favorite huddled over position, rocking back and forth.  
  
Making his way over to her, Leo scanned the club, trying to find Wyatt. He knelt down beside Piper. "What happened?"  
  
Piper looked up, hearing his voice. Her eyes were filled with tears and she quickly reached out and hugged him, trying to find comfort. "That thing...it came and it...I tried, Leo, I tried to fight it, but I couldn't..."  
  
Leo took Piper by the shoulders and held her in front of him. "Piper, where is Wyatt?"  
  
She looked away, tears falling. "That thing...it took him..."  
  
Releasing Piper, Leo sank onto the floor, not understanding what she had said. Wyatt was at home with Victor, or, that was where he was supposed to be. "What were you both doing here at the club? The boys were supposed to stay at the house. Didn't you listen when we said that the annillas were after them?"  
  
"Of course I heard you, but the club called and Paige said that something was wrong and that the band was leaving," Piper ranted. "No one could come except for me, so I did."  
  
"Piper, you don't know anything about this club."  
  
"That's why I brought Wyatt. He orbed us down here. I thought that at least he would know who everyone was and how things worked around here."  
  
"He's eight years old, Piper!" Leo shouted, causing her to move back. Leo wasn't normally the violent type, but his son had been kidnapped because the sixteen year old version of his wife had let him been taken. "Sure he has been here before, but Wyatt doesn't know anything about how this place is run. I can't believe that you were so stupid to bring him here. And now look at what's happened. He's gone."  
  
Anger filling her, Piper stood and shouted back at Leo. "Leave me alone! I'm sorry that I brought him here. But I didn't know any better. I'm not used to being a mom and I don't know how to protect anyone from...from monsters that I never knew existed! I'm just a kid, Leo."  
  
"That's right," Leo said, calming down. "You are just a child. And because you are one I am going to leave you here."  
  
He turned to leave, but Piper reached out and stopped him. "What? You can't just leave me here!"  
  
"Of course I can. Piper, you're right, you are nothing but a child and I can't have you back at the Manor endangering my other son. You can't fight or write spells or mix potions. You'd only be in the way. It would be better is you just stayed here. You'll be safe and so will everyone else. Now, I need you to let go of me. I have a son that I have to save and a demon that needs to be vanquished."  
  
Piper let go of Leo's arm and watched with blurred vision as he disappeared in a swirl of blue and white lights. Sitting at the bar, she knew that he was right. She knew that she would be of no use to any of them. But she was overwhelmed with wanting to prove them wrong. True, she hadn't been much of a mother to her sons and wasn't the best at protecting, but she wanted to show Leo and her sisters that she could.  
  
That she could be a good witch.  
  
When Leo arrived at the Manor, he found Chris waiting for him. He was standing in the kitchen, getting a soda for himself and for his grandfather. Hearing that all too familiar jingle of orbs, Chris turned and saw his father. But Chris was confused. He had felt that something was wrong and knew that his father went to find his mom and Wyatt, so why did his father come back alone?  
  
"Where are they, dad?" Chris asked.  
  
His son's voice scaring him, Leo jumped and faced Chris. He wasn't sure what to say. Chris may have been a little kid, but he would know a lie when he heard one. Not answering quick enough, Chris nodded.  
  
"It took Wyatt, didn't it?" he asked.  
  
Leo knelt down in front of Chris. His son had faced countless demons, and even though he had never fought one, Chris knew at least how to protect himself if he were alone. Chris himself knew what it was like to be taken. He was the son of a Charmed One and he and Wyatt had been taken too many times to count. But the important thing was, that Chris knew that no matter what, he and/or Wyatt would be saved and the demon killed.  
  
This was something that Leo did not have to explain. Chris knew and by the look in his eyes, Leo knew he didn't have to say anything. But, there was a slightly confused look on Chris' face this time. One that did not understand why his mother, who was with Wyatt, had done nothing to protect him.  
  
"Something is wrong with mom, huh dad?"  
  
"She'll be all right soon," Leo answered. "And we are going to get your brother back, I promise."  
  
Chris nodded. "I'll go and tell grandpa. He didn't even want me coming downstairs, but I wanted a drink. I told him that I would be careful and that if one of the demons came that I would orb back up there. I'm just a little kid, I can't fight demons."  
  
Leo watched as Chris orbed out of the kitchen with the two sodas, not knowing what to say. He only wondered what he was going to do about Piper and how he was supposed to save his son and kill the demon. 


	12. Sisterly Help and an Unreachable Room

Author's Note: I am so sorry that I haven't updated this story in soooo long. The good news is that there are only a few more chapters and they are all finished and the fic is over. I hope you all enjoy my ending. Please, read and review!  
  
Chapter Twelve: Sisterly Help and an Unreachable Room  
  
Piper sat inside a car that had been left in the club parking lot. The door had luckily been unlocked, but the keys were gone. Seated behind the wheel, Piper tried to remember everything the Phoebe had taught her about hot-wiring a car so that she could drive it. Knowing that no one would come for her if she called, Piper decided that it would be best if she went back to the Manor herself. Sure, she could have taken the bus, but she figured that a car would be easier. But, there was only one little problem:  
  
She couldn't drive.  
  
"How sad am I?" she asked herself. "I am sixteen, the age where everyone is getting their license and is driving and I don't even know how to start a car. Okay, well, starting a car is something that I am good at, but actually driving..."  
  
Finally having Phoebe's lessons return to her, Piper got the car started and took a deep breath as she prepared to exit the club parking lot. Piper tried to clear her mind, she needed to be absolutely focused when she drove, but there were too many things that were going through her head. She needed to get to the Manor so that she could help Leo and her sisters get Wyatt back, she had to prove to them that she wasn't useless.  
  
Pulling out into the street, Piper watched for the cars and found them zooming in front of her, not allowing her out onto the street. Closing her eyes, she threw out her hands and waited to hear a crash of metal, but as she opened them, she found that she had successfully frozen the street. Taking her time, Piper pulled out and drove down to a red light, where she stopped and unfroze the street.  
  
"At least I have that power down," she said.  
  
But driving with actual cars around her was harder and scarier than she thought. Her heart was racing and she couldn't for the life of her figure out how to get home. The club was in a different part of town than she had remembered and she felt as of she was going in circles until she saw familiar street names.  
  
"Finally," Piper sighed.  
  
That, of course, was before she saw the red pick-up truck headed her way. She tried freezing the truck, but it wasn't working. Piper also tried to swerve out of the way, but the driver of the truck was obviously drunk and would swerve in her direction. As a last resort, Piper called out for her sister, thinking that Leo may not help her being preoccupied with their son.  
  
"Paige!" Piper screamed. She called again, just as the truck was swerving into her lane. "Paige!"  
  
There was a swirl of blue and whites lights in the front seat of the car and they left revealing a stunned Paige. Her eyes wide, she took the steering wheel in her hands and jerked it to the side, moving the car out of the truck's destructive path. The car crashed into the curb and the two women were jolted forwards and then fell back into their seats with a thud.  
  
Taking Piper's hand, Paige orbed the two out of the car and into the kitchen of the Manor. Each stood at the counter, leaning on it for support as they tried to collect themselves from what had recently occurred. Taking a deep breath, Piper broke their silence.  
  
"Thanks for saving me...again."  
  
Paige looked up. "Mind telling me what happened?"  
  
"I was trying to get back to the Manor."  
  
"Leo said that he left you at the club so that you would be safe. Why didn't you listen to him?"  
  
Piper turned away from her sister. She really wanted to tell her the truth, but she was almost embarrassed.  
  
"Piper, talk to me," Paige said.  
  
"I wanted to help. I know you all think I can't, but I know I can and I wanted to come back so that I could go with you and get my son back."  
  
Paige sighed and looked at Piper. "I know you want to help, but really Piper...I listened to you the last time and look where it got us? That annilla took Wyatt because you couldn't protect him. If we brought you with us we would just be putting you in danger. I can't let you come with us."  
  
"Where are Leo and Phoebe?"  
  
Paige nodded her head toward the doorway behind Piper. "In the foyer waiting for me. Listen, they think you are still at the club, so I should really be getting you back there..."  
  
"But?"  
  
"But I am going to leave you here." Paige took a deep breath. "Don't make me regret my decision. I know you want to help, Piper, I really do. So, if you want to help you will stay here and try not to do anything magical. Got it?"  
  
Piper bobbed her head. Smiling, Paige nodded and headed out of the kitchen and into the foyer where Leo and Phoebe were patiently waiting.  
  
"What was it?" Phoebe asked, tucking potions into a bag that hung at her side.  
  
Paige looked up, here eyes wide as she tried to think of an excuse that did not involve Piper. "Magic School. Some kid was terrorizing the teachers and I needed to orb over there to straighten it out. All fixed now."  
  
"I hope it was nothing like the last time," Phoebe said, laughing a bit. "No one conjured any story-book creatures that could, oh, cut off a person's head?"  
  
Paige shook her head. "It was nothing really. So, ready to go and get Wyatt?"  
  
"If those annillas have hurt him," Leo's voice trailed off as he thought of his son in danger.  
  
"Leo, don't worry," Paige said. "He may be a little kid, but he can still protect himself."  
  
"You're right." Taking Phoebe and Paige's hand, Leo concentrated on the location the map had given them on the whereabouts of both Wyatt and the annillas and orbed out of the Manor.  
  
The three landed in what looked like the inside of a darkened cave. Searching high and low, not one of them could find a door or opening that would lead them to where the annillas could be hiding Wyatt. Leo reached out with his whitelighter powers, but he could not sense his son. Phoebe and Paige walked along the rock walls of the cave and Phoebe stopped when she thought she heard a noise coming from the other side.  
  
"Over here!" she shouted, as she pressed her hear closer to the rock. "I hear something...almost like there is another room on the other side of this wall."  
  
Leo moved to her side and felt his hand along the wall. There would be no getting around it, only by orbing could he get to the other side, but when he tried his orbs bounced back and he landed with a thud on the sandy floor of the cave.  
  
"How the hell do I get on the other side?" he asked, angrily.  
  
"I hear him!" Paige exclaimed, standing a ways from Phoebe. "Wyatt's on the other side...but how are we going to get to him?"  
  
Leo gently pushed Paige aside as he placed his ear on the wall to listen. He could hear his son calling out for his parents and begging the annillas to let him go. Wyatt was afraid and Leo could hear it in his voice. "I don't know how we are supposed to get to him, but we have to try. I have to save him." 


	13. Father's and Spells

Chapter Thirteen: Father's and Spells  
  
Piper paced around the kitchen, trying to think of what she was going to do. Both Paige and Leo had told her to stay in one place, but so far she wasn't one for following directions. She needed to get to the others, but her dilemma was how she was supposed to get to them. Unlike her youngest sister and husband, Piper did not have the ability to transport herself from one place to another by simply thinking of it.  
  
The thought of using her youngest son crossed her mind, but there was no way she was going to put him in the same danger his brother was in. There was no way she could call Leo or Paige; technically Leo didn't even know she was back at the Manor. Her mind filling with improbable possibilities, Piper turned at the sound of footsteps.  
  
"Piper, when did you get home?"  
  
"Dad," Piper all but whispered.  
  
"I thought I heard Leo say something about you still being at the club?"  
  
"I was, only because I had to clean up after the demon," she lied. "The workers were still there and everything was a mess and I was supposed to meet everyone back here, but they left without me. Not that I blame them, I want my son back too."  
  
Sighing, Piper prayed that her father bought what she had told him. She was stunned, though, to see him there. He had left her and her sisters when they were young and was not much of a factor in their lives. Piper was glad to know that Victor would be there for his family in the future.  
  
"They left just a moment ago," Victor said, as he took his daughter's hand. Leading her to the conservatory, he pointed to a map. "Phoebe did that thing with the map and crystal to find Wyatt and she and Leo waited for Paige to get back so they could leave."  
  
Piper looked at the map. What did Victor mean about a thing with a crystal?  
  
"I'm not sure the crystal is in the same place, but if you pick it up and think of Wyatt, can't it show you where he is? That's what you always do when you look for someone. That, or you could write a spell. Aren't you good at that?"  
  
Victor turned to Piper and watched her. She stood silently for a few moments as she tried to think of what to do. A spell? That shouldn't be that hard to write, if she was a witch, all she would have to do would be to come up with a few lines that rhymed and poof, it would work. Right?  
  
"Piper?"  
  
"Yeah," she said, jumping out of her dream-like state. "I can write a spell and be there in no time."  
  
Nodding, Victor heard a cry from upstairs and began to walk away. He stopped, though, and reached into his pocket. Holding out his hand to Piper, he gave her two small bottles with a red liquid inside it. Piper took them, not knowing what they were.  
  
"In case there isn't enough potion to go around to kill the demons," Victor said, answering Piper's silent question. "There are another two upstairs just in case a few decide to show up here, but I think Chris and I can handle them. I've gotten to be pretty good at this demon vanquishing stuff."  
  
"Thanks dad."  
  
"The baby's crying so I better get up there. Be careful, okay?"  
  
"I will."  
  
Watching him leave, Piper smiled at the thoughtfulness of her father, but her ease did not last long. Remembering the map and crystal, Piper wondered if it would be a good idea to try it out, but even if she found the others, how would she get there? It was as she was thinking this that she saw scraps of paper with Phoebe's writing all over them. They were the beginnings of spells.  
  
"A spell," she said to herself. "I can write one and it'll take me right to them."  
  
Picking up a piece of paper, Piper read two lines:  
  
Hear these words, hear the rhyme  
  
Heed the hope within my mind  
  
"That seems like a good start, considering I have never written a spell before. I just need to think of two more lines..."  
  
Gripping the potion bottles in her hands, Piper thought as hard as she could. Thinking that she had finally come up with something that might work, she repeated the two opening lines and stammered out two more, hoping that everything worked.  
  
"Hear these words, hear the rhyme Heed the hope within my mind To find my son taken from me His location known, so mote it be"  
  
There was a sudden gust of wind and before Piper knew it she was no longer standing in the conservatory of the Manor. Her new surroundings were dark and dusty and she seemed to be alone. That was, until she heard a familiar voice call out to her.  
  
"Mom!" 


	14. Mom to the Rescue and Saying Goodnight

Chapter Fourteen: Mom to the Rescue and Saying Goodnight  
  
Wyatt sat huddled in a small corner, two annillas hovering beside him. He was shivering, his clothes torn and his body dirty. One small hand reached out for his mother, but it drew back quickly as one of the two annillas hissed. They clawed at the air in Piper's direction, threatening her, forcing her to move back.  
  
Piper stood in fear, unable to move. But, something happened and the sight of seeing her son in danger turned her and she took a step forward. Her hands fell to her sides and she put the potions in her pockets, to keep them hidden and ready to use at the opportune moment. Slowly, she moved closer to Wyatt, the annillas hissing at each step she took.  
  
"It's all right, Wyatt, I'm right here," she said.  
  
"Mom, please get me out of here," Wyatt cried. "I'm scared."  
  
"I know you are, but you have to be strong, okay?"  
  
One annilla flew up to Piper and with the flick of its wrist, sent Piper backward. Wyatt screamed and his voice echoed through the walls causing Leo on the other side to jump. Leaning into the wall, he heard his son call out for his mother and Leo wondered if Piper was there. At first, he thought that impossible, but with everything he had ever seen, he knew that it should not be ruled out.  
  
Piper lay on her back for a few seconds, not realizing what had happened. Hearing her son, she sat up and saw the annilla looking her in the eye. The creature moved closer and Piper threw out her hands to blast it. She knew that her powers did not work on the demon, but there was a small explosion that caused the annilla to move away and give Piper enough room to stand and collect herself.  
  
Reaching into her pocket, Piper grabbed a potion and threw it at the first annilla and watched as it burst into flames. The second annilla, furious that its fellow demon had been destroyed, advanced on Piper. Wyatt sat in the back, watching his mother fight. She created a few more explosions and tried to freeze the demon (to no avail), and though he knew that she could take care of herself, Wyatt was still afraid.  
  
His mother had told him long ago that no matter what, she would always be there to protect him that her love for him would keep him safe. Wyatt wanted to help, wanted to fight, wanted to protect his mother, but he sat, struck both by awe and horror at the sight of his mother fighting the annilla. Besides, even if he did try to help his mother he would have been no help at all. Sure, Wyatt had many powerful powers and had a pretty good grasp on how to use them, but he was weak and hurt from spending hours in the cave the annillas called home.  
  
There was another loud crashing sound that made Wyatt jump and he bent down to see his mother hit the ground again. He tried to stand up, but his knees buckled and he fell back down. Looking up, he saw his mother stand as the annilla was making its way toward him. It was hissing and clawing at him, its dark eyes staring at him.  
  
"Hey, you stay away from my kid!" Piper shouted as she ran after it. Grabbing the other bottle of potion in her pocket, Piper pulled at the annilla's bird-like leg, moving it away from Wyatt and tossed the potion up at it. There was a larger explosion than before and Piper watched the demon erupt into flames, but the force of the blast sent her flying and she felt her body hit something hard and everything went black.  
  
It was as the annilla was reduced to ash that the cave walls disappeared. Leo, Paige and Phoebe stood back, not knowing what had happened, but at the sight of Wyatt, Leo ran in and to his son. Wyatt tried to stand as his father came over and fell into his arms. Sitting Wyatt down, Leo healed his son's wounds, then tried to hug him, but Wyatt pulled away.  
  
"Wyatt?" Leo asked, confused.  
  
"It's mom," Wyatt answered, making his way over to her.  
  
Piper lay face down, her long brown hair sprawled around her, her arms and legs bent in odd directions. Kneeling beside her, Wyatt dare not touch her, but watched as she moved slightly up and down. With a sigh of relief, Wyatt knew that she was breathing and therefore was still alive. Feeling someone looming over him, he turned and saw his father.  
  
"My god, Piper." Leo went to one knee and gently turned her over. Tears welled in his eyes at the sight of her.  
  
"I don't understand," Phoebe began. "I thought you left her at the club, Leo?"  
  
"I did."  
  
"It was me," Paige said. Leo and Phoebe turned to her. "She got in a car and tried to drive to the Manor, but she was about to get in an accident so she called me and I orbed to her and took her home."  
  
"Nothing really happened at Magic School?" Phoebe asked, her eyes narrowing.  
  
"I needed to tell you something. How was I supposed to know that she was going to find a way to get here? I told her to stay at the Manor and not do anything magical."  
  
Wyatt tugged on Leo's arm. "You have to heal her, dad. Before the other annillas come and try to take me again."  
  
Leo took Piper into his arms and took Wyatt's hand. "Let's get back to the Manor. We'll be safer there."  
  
Taking Phoebe's hand, Paige orbed back home after Leo and reappeared in the Manor living room. Leo set Piper down on the couch and immediately began to heal her. With a soft moan, Piper began to stir and she slowly opened her eyes. Looking around the room, Piper wondered where she was, the last thing she remembered being in the cave trying to save Wyatt. The thought of her son jolted her and she sat up quickly.  
  
"Wyatt?"  
  
"I'm right here mom," he said, taking her hand.  
  
"I don't understand. I thought we were just in the cave...why are we back home?" she asked.  
  
"You did it," Wyatt exclaimed. "You vanquished the annillas! Dad orbed us home."  
  
Moving a little, Piper could see Leo standing behind Wyatt, smiling. Slowly, she sat up. She felt a little dizzy, but that was most likely from being thrown into a wall while trying to save her son. Which she had done. Piper had never been so proud of herself. Just the thought of her saving Wyatt from some evil creature made her heart skip a beat.  
  
I did it, she thought to herself. I saved him, even though they thought I wouldn't be able to. I've never felt so relieved and so happy before. If this is where my life is taking me I guess it's not so bad. I'm not liking the whole demons kidnapping my children, but I think I can actually deal with this.  
  
"Mom? Are you okay?" Wyatt asked.  
  
Piper nodded. "I'm fine. I'm just so glad that you are all right." With that, Piper reached out and grabbed Wyatt and drew him into a big hug.  
  
"Wyatt, can you go upstairs and tell your grandpa that we are back?" Leo asked.  
  
Pulling away from his mother, Wyatt nodded and orbed up to the nursery. Leo took a seat next to Piper on the couch, Phoebe ad Paige on the table in front of them.  
  
"Piper you did it!" Paige exclaimed. Her eyes squinted. "Which Piper are you then?"  
  
"What do you mean? I haven't changed or anything have I?" Piper asked.  
  
Paige sighed. "Still past Piper, I see. Anyway, you did it. How did you get to the cave?"  
  
"I said a spell. After you all left, dad came downstairs and told me that you did something with a crystal and a map to find out where Wyatt was. I figured that even if I tried that that it wouldn't be of any help because I would still have to get to you. Dad then said something about writing a spell and I saw some notes on the table..." Piper pointed.  
  
Phoebe turned to the little table in the conservatory then back to Piper. "I was scrying for Wyatt with the crystal. Before that I was trying to think of some spells that might help us look for him. I can't believe it, you wrote a spell that worked?"  
  
Piper smiled. "I almost didn't think I could do it, but I wanted to save Wyatt so bad and the thought of him in danger. I also wanted to find all of you and fight with you, to show you that I'm not a bad witch."  
  
Leo put a hand on Piper's shoulder. "I never should have doubted you. I'm sorry."  
  
"It's all right. I didn't think I could do it either. I doubted myself. But Wyatt told me something earlier today. I was trying to use my powers, try to figure out how to use them but it wasn't working. Wyatt came down and talked to me and he told me that he believed in me. I guess that when I needed to make the spell and find him, I hear him and it helped me out. We do a pretty good job with our boys in the future, don't we?"  
  
Leo smiled. "You are a wonderful mother."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Phoebe stood up. "I think I am going to go and be a wonderful mother right now. I have a baby girl upstairs and it's getting pretty late. I'm going to go and put her to bed."  
  
Piper yawned. "You know, bed seems pretty good about now. I think I'm going to go and say good night to the boys and then hit the hay."  
  
"I still have papers to grade," Paige said. I'll be in the kitchen so no bothering me."  
  
Following her sister up the stairs, Piper stopped and looked back at Leo who was still sitting on the couch. "What about you, Leo?"  
  
"I'm going to head over to the club and make sure everything went fine over there. This way it should give you enough time to get to sleep and I won't bother you when I get it."  
  
"Thanks," Piper said. She saw Leo smile and then orb out of the Manor.  
  
The nursery was silent when Phoebe and Piper entered it. Asleep in her crib, Phoebe's daughter gave a little cry as she was picked up. Phoebe hushed and rocked her as she left eh room, stopping only to give her father a kiss and thank him for watching his granddaughter.  
  
Wyatt was sitting on the floor, next to Victor who held a sleeping Chris. "Is it time for bed, mom?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Standing, Wyatt hugged his grandfather without waking his brother and left the room to get himself ready to be tucked in. Piper walked over to her father and took Chris from him, holding him somewhat awkwardly in her arms. Victor offered to help her, but she told him no.  
  
"I've got him, dad," she said. Leaning over, Piper gave him a kiss. "Thanks for watching them for me and Phoebe."  
  
"Thank you for bringing him back."  
  
Piper left the room quietly and walked into the bedroom Wyatt and Chris shared. It was a lucky guess which room it was, but Piper found it all right and found Wyatt in his bed with his pajamas on, Chris also wore his pajamas which Victor most likely made him put on hours ago, only having the boy refuse to go to bed until his parents came home with his brother safe and sound.  
  
Chris practically fell into bed, but upon feeling the covers being pulled over him, he opened his eyes. "Mom! Where's-"  
  
"I'm over here, Chris," Wyatt answered.  
  
"You got him back, mom. I knew you would," Chris said, smiling.  
  
"Well, it's late boys," Piper said. "You both should have been asleep hours ago."  
  
"Good night!" they said in unison.  
  
Piper kissed each boy on the head and gave them a hug. Standing in the doorway, she turned off the light and was about to shut the door when a voice stopped her. It was Chris.  
  
"I love you mom."  
  
"I love you too," Wyatt said.  
  
"I love you both too."  
  
With that, Piper shut the door. The walk to her bedroom seemed to take longer than it normally did. Perhaps it was because her room was now Prue's room. It was as she was in her room and getting herself ready for bed that she remembered about Prue. She was sad that her older sister would not be there I the future, but she was looking forward to getting to know Paige and her husband Leo and her sons.  
  
There was a lot to be looking forward to.  
  
Climbing into bed, Piper replayed everything that had happened to her during the day. She remembered the wish she had made and while she still wasn't sure if demon killing and witchcraft were the answers to her wish, she was willing to give it a shot. Closing her eyes, Piper let sleep claim her and she drifted off into a world of sweet darkness. 


	15. Home Again

Chapter Fifteen: Home Again  
  
Piper woke as her bed began to shake. Her eyes shut, she sat up and felt herself moving up and down. "Chris, stop jumping on the bed," she said, her voice horse from want of use over the night.  
  
"Who's Chris?" a female voice asked.  
  
Opening her eyes, Piper saw Phoebe jumping on her bed, a teenaged Phoebe. "What?"  
  
"I said, who is Chris?" Phoebe asked again, getting down from her sister's bed.  
  
Piper sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her head. Who was Chris, she thought to herself. "I have no idea."  
  
Shrugging, Phoebe waked to the door. "Whatever. But you had better hurry because Prue doesn't want to be late taking us to school. Get dressed and go downstairs and get something to eat before Grams throws a fit."  
  
After hearing her door close, Piper got up from bed and walked around her room, getting everything ready for school. She got dressed and made sure that she had everything in her bag. Her homework was sitting on her desk as if it were waiting for her and she saw three dollars on top of her math book and knew that Grams had been in the night before and had given her the money for lunch.  
  
Walking down the stairs, Piper dropped her backpack off in the living room and entered the kitchen with a smile on her face. Grams was at the table drinking a cup of tea and trying to read the paper as Prue talked over and over about some guy she had met while stopping to get gas.  
  
"You would not believe him, Grams, he was gorgeous," Prue said, sitting at the table.  
  
"Who are we talking about?" Piper asked as she grabbed a muffin from off the counter and joined her Grams and sister.  
  
"Only this incredibly hot guy named Rodger who I met a few days ago," Prue answered.  
  
"Rodger?" Phoebe asked, walking in. "What kind of a name is Rodger?"  
  
"Trust me, Phoebe, it wouldn't matter what his name was if you saw him," Prue said. "You would love the guy, but hands off because he is so mine."  
  
Grams lowered the paper. "No warning Piper? You think Phoebe will try to steal him and not Piper?"  
  
Prue face Piper. "No offense, but I know you wouldn't go after him. He's not your type."  
  
"Maybe this Chris person is," Phoebe said, smirking.  
  
"Who's Chris?" Prue asked, her eyes growing wide.  
  
"No one," Piper answered. "It's just...I had this really weird dream last night...I guess there was someone names Chris in it, that's all. Phoebe is just making a big deal out of nothing."  
  
"You know, some people think that dreams tell you of the future," Phoebe said.  
  
Prue laughed. "Please, Pheebs. If there is anyone who has no clue about the future, it is you so don't even start."  
  
Grams looked over at Piper. "So, I take it you slept well?"  
  
Piper nodded. "Yeah. I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. I mean, yesterday I felt so...useless, like I was going nowhere. I guess I just needed a good night's sleep to make me feel better."  
  
Grams smiled. "I see my tea did the trick. Anyway, you girls better get going. I don't want any of you late."  
  
Saying good-bye to Grams, the girls left the kitchen. Piper stopped in the doorway and looked back at Grams, as if she wasn't telling her something. Shrugging it off, Piper ran after her sisters when she heard them call for her. Prue drove them halfway to school, her college being in between. Waving bye, Prue was gone and Phoebe and Prue walked the rest of the way. One the way to Baker High School, the sisters walked by a junior high.  
  
The school obviously began before theirs did, for students were already hurrying to class and running around the campus. It was as they were walking in front of the main entrance to the school that a car pulled up and let out a dark hared girl with braces. She was grabbing her things, which had seemed to fall from her bag during her ride to school. Phoebe just shrugged it off, but when the girl close the car door and dropped a handful of things, Piper took notice.  
  
"Here, let me help you," she said, picking up a notebook and a handful of pens.  
  
"Thanks," the girl said, looking up at Piper.  
  
Piper l stared at the girl, knowing that she had seen her before.  
  
"What is it?" the girl asked. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"What? Oh, I'm sorry, it's just that...you look like someone I know. Have we met before?"  
  
The girl shook her head as she and Piper stood up. "I don't think so. I'm Paige Matthews." She held out her hand for Piper to take.  
  
"Piper Halliwell," she said, shaking Paige's hand.  
  
"Piper, we're going to be late for school," Phoebe called.  
  
Looking back, Piper nodded. She turned to Paige. "I had better be going. It was nice to have met you Paige."  
  
"Same here. See you around."  
  
Phoebe and Piper continued their walk to school. Piper looked back and caught one last glimpse of Paige before the girl disappeared into the buildings of her junior high. Confused, Phoebe asked Piper what the matter was.  
  
"Nothing, it's just...I feel like I know her..."  
  
"Well, you know her know," Phoebe said.  
  
Piper nodded. "Yeah, I know her now."  
  
The two stopped as they reached their school. Phoebe sighed. "Another day. Think you can deal?"  
  
"You think I can't?" Piper asked. "I think I can handle anything right now."  
  
Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Little miss confident, are we?"  
  
"I guess so. Everything is going to be okay for me, Phoebe."  
  
"When the sudden change of heart? You seem to be singing a different tune since yesterday."  
  
"I'm not sure. I think that crazy dream of mine helped me out."  
  
"What was it about, Piper?"  
  
"I can't remember. But whatever it was, it was wonderful."  
  
Leo stood in the kitchen leaning over the morning paper when Wyatt and Chris orbed in. Both boys were in the pajamas and their hair stood in every direction. Their eyes weren't even fully opened yet. Trying his best not to laugh, Leo hugged them each, and then sat them down so he could fix breakfast.  
  
"I want mom to make me something," Chris said, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"She's still asleep," Leo told him, getting out a few pots and pans. "I can make you boys something."  
  
"That's not a good idea, Leo," Phoebe said entering the kitchen. "I seem to remember the last time you made something there was a small fire in the kitchen."  
  
"No, that was you Aunt Phoebe," Wyatt laughed. "Dad was the one who put it out."  
  
Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "Either way, breakfast is simply better when Piper makes it."  
  
Leo eyes Phoebe. "But don't you think that with what happened yesterday that she won't be in the mood to make any breakfast?"  
  
"And what happened yesterday?" a voice asked.  
  
The boys turned. "Mom!"  
  
"Morning Piper," Leo said, giving her a hug but making sure not to get too close for fear that she might not like it. He remembered how, even though she was beginning to care for him by the end, that she still wasn't used to the idea of having husband.  
  
Piper wrapped her arms around Leo. "No good morning kiss for you wife?"  
  
"Piper..." Leo trailed off.  
  
"What?"  
  
"About yesterday..."  
  
"Yeah, I'm not getting why you are making such a big deal about yesterday. What happened? Did you or the boys do something that you shouldn't have and now I am going to have to fix it?" Piper asked, her hands positioning themselves on her hips.  
  
"Don't you remember?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Remember what?" Piper asked. "Really you guys, what is going on?"  
  
Phoebe leaned over to Leo and whispered in his ear. "You think this our Piper?"  
  
"Yeah. I think she's back."  
  
"Back?" Piper asked. "Where did I go? Will someone please tell me what is going on? I mean, this doesn't have anything to do with that dream I had last night, does it?"  
  
Leo cocked his head. "What dream?"  
  
"I don't know, it was really strange..." Piper trailed off, embarrassed that she had even brought it up.  
  
"Piper," Phoebe coaxed. "What is it? What did you dream?"  
  
"That I was in the past." 


End file.
